diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c3ef4c783..1a180d336 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -275,6 +275,8 @@
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
 
+
+
         </plugins>
     </build>
 
diff --git a/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5ClientFactory.java b/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5ClientFactory.java
index 584909498..191ba33e3 100644
--- a/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5ClientFactory.java
+++ b/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5ClientFactory.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpHost;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.util.Timeout;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.FactoryBean;
+import org.springframework.ws.client.support.interceptor.ClientInterceptor;
 
 /**
  * {@link FactoryBean} to set up a {@link CloseableHttpClient} using HttpComponents HttpClient 5.
@@ -43,6 +44,18 @@
  */
 public class HttpComponents5ClientFactory implements FactoryBean<CloseableHttpClient> {
 
+	/**
+	 * AuthScope to match any Host.
+	 * <p>
+	 * <b>HEADS-UP</b>: ANY has been removed from {@link AuthScope} since httpcomponents version 5.x. It has been
+	 * redefined here to ease migration from httpcomponents 4. The associated functionality might be removed in a future
+	 * version of apache httpcomponents. Consider using a {@link ClientInterceptor} to implement http client agnostic
+	 * preemptive basic auth.
+	 *
+	 * @see AuthScope#AuthScope(String, String, int, String, String)
+	 */
+	public static final AuthScope ANY = new AuthScope(null, null, -1, null, null);
+
 	private static final Duration DEFAULT_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT = Duration.ofSeconds(60);
 
 	private static final Duration DEFAULT_READ_TIMEOUT = Duration.ofSeconds(60);
@@ -53,7 +66,7 @@ public class HttpComponents5ClientFactory implements FactoryBean<CloseableHttpCl
 
 	private int maxTotalConnections = -1;
 
-	private AuthScope authScope = null;
+	private AuthScope authScope = ANY;
 
 	private Credentials credentials = null;
 
@@ -78,7 +91,7 @@ public void setCredentials(Credentials credentials) {
 	/**
 	 * Sets the authentication scope to be used. Only used when the {@code credentials} property has been set.
 	 * <p>
-	 * By default, the {@link AuthScope#ANY} is used.
+	 * By default, the {@link #ANY} is used.
 	 *
 	 * @see #setCredentials(Credentials)
 	 */
diff --git a/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSender.java b/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSender.java
index 27bc7c8e5..d0b96838c 100644
--- a/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSender.java
+++ b/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSender.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpRequest;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpRequestInterceptor;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.protocol.HttpContext;
+
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.DisposableBean;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
@@ -178,7 +179,10 @@ public void setMaxConnectionsPerHost(Map<String, String> maxConnectionsPerHost)
 
 	@Override
 	public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
-		this.httpClient = clientFactory.getObject();
+
+		if (this.clientFactory != null) {
+			this.httpClient = clientFactory.getObject();
+		}
 	}
 
 	@Override
diff --git a/spring-ws-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSenderTest.java b/spring-ws-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSenderTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..75f7ee065
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-ws-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSenderTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package org.springframework.ws.transport.http;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.classic.CloseableHttpClient;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.classic.HttpClientBuilder;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.*;
+
+class HttpComponents5MessageSenderTest {
+
+	@Test
+	void afterPropertiesSet_createHttpClient() throws Exception {
+		HttpComponents5MessageSender messageSender = new HttpComponents5MessageSender();
+		assertThat(messageSender.getHttpClient()).isNull();
+		Duration timeout = Duration.ofSeconds(1);
+		assertThatCode(() -> messageSender.setConnectionTimeout(timeout)).doesNotThrowAnyException();
+		messageSender.afterPropertiesSet();
+		assertThat(messageSender.getHttpClient()).isNotNull();
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void afterPropertiesSet_httpClientAlreadySet() throws Exception {
+		CloseableHttpClient httpClient = HttpClientBuilder.create().build();
+		HttpComponents5MessageSender messageSender = new HttpComponents5MessageSender(httpClient);
+		Duration timeout = Duration.ofSeconds(1);
+		assertThatCode(() -> messageSender.setConnectionTimeout(timeout)).isInstanceOf(IllegalStateException.class);
+		messageSender.afterPropertiesSet();
+		assertThat(messageSender.getHttpClient()).isSameAs(httpClient);
+	}
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file